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Saturday, July 27, 2013

Egypt Rules Out War With Ethiopia Over Nile River Hydropower Dam

Egypt has no plans to go to war with
Ethiopia over the Horn of Africa nation’s construction of a
hydropower dam on the Nile River, said Mona Omar, special envoy
for Interim Egyptian President Adly Mansour.
Former Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi told supporters
last month his government will “defend each drop of Nile water
with our blood.” Mursi, overthrown by the army on July 3, had a
failed foreign policy and Egypt plans to negotiate with Ethiopia
about the dam, Omar told reporters today in the Ugandan capital,
Kampala.
“We cannot go to war with any African country,” she said.
“When you differ in opinion it doesn’t mean you will go to
war.” Ethiopia is building a $4.3 billion, 6,000-megawatt
hydropower plant on the Blue Nile River, the main tributary of
the Nile River that provides Egypt with most of its water. The
dam, to be completed by 2017, has raised concerns in Egypt that
it will cut supplies of water allocated by accords put in place
more than five decades ago.
The project, known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam,
is set to be Africa’s biggest hydropower plant when it is built.
http://www.bloomberg.com